The Magic: The Gathering: Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth release is imminent, and we could not be more excited about it! Lucky players may get to experience the set early with the pre-release this weekend in physical stores, but worry not about missing out! The Card Vault has got you covered with the release on the 21st of June! So why exactly is this Magic: The Gathering set so widely sought after? Well, let’s take a look!
Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth marks the newest release in Wizards of the Coast’s Universes Beyond series for Magic: The Gathering. In this series, various popular franchises step into the world of Magic: The Gathering. Sets you may already be familiar with from this range include Warhammer 40,000, Transformers, Dungeons & Dragons, and much more! Universes Beyond is not legal within the Standard-legal format for MTG play, with that said, players can use their Universes Beyond decks in the popular Eternal formats. We also have a few upcoming Universes Beyond sets to look forward to including Doctor Who, Final Fantasy, and Assassin’s Creed. But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves, and bring it back to Lord of the Rings.
As you may already know: The Lord of the Rings is an extremely popular novel series by J.R.R. Tolkien. This epic high fantasy series created an extremely rich universe with masterful world-building, to the point where I could go on all day about the deep history and lore within the series. The book series went on to have cult classic film adaptations, as well as a TV adaptation, game adaptations, and more. If you haven’t experienced The Lord of the Rings in any way, shape, or form, you are honestly doing yourself a disservice. Better get on that!
The set itself, though, is where our interest lies today. This set contains 281 regular cards, breaking down into 101 commons, 80 uncommons, 60 rares, 20 mythic rares, and 20 basic lands. The set features the iconic characters from Tolkien’s famed Middle-earth including, but not limited to, Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Gollum, and Gandalf the Grey. But what would The Lord of the Rings be without The One Ring? 
Arguably the biggest draw to the set, is The One Ring, in which Wizards of the Coast have produced only ONE within the whole set. Wizards of the Coast have been kind enough to provide us with a chart to show where one may get the chance to obtain The One Ring to rule them all! While there are variants of The One Ring that can be found across all of the Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth products, these have been produced in higher numbers than one. Players may find the Main Set Version across every product. The Bundle Alt-Art Promo Version is obtainable within every Bundle, Gift Bundle, and can be contained within some Collector Boosters. The Extended-Art Version is where things start to get spicy. The Extended Art Version can only be found within some packs of Gift Bundles and Collector Boosters. Finally, The One Ring to rule them all. The 1 of 1 Ring has exactly 1 card produced and it can only be found within the English language Collector Booster. This also extends to the Collector booster included within the Gift Bundle. If reading all that was a bit much, then check out Wizards of the Coast’s official chart to show the rings below.
Let's not forget, we also have the Rings of Power. These cards are available in all languages of the set. These cards feature the language of the High Elves, Quenya, in Tengwar letterfoms. These cards are also limited but breakdown as such: 300 Serialized double rainbow foil Sol Ring (Elven), 700 Serialized double rainbow foil Sol Ring (Dwarven), 900 Serialized double rainbow foil Sol Ring (Human), 3,000 Non-foil Sol Ring (Elven), 7,000 Non-foil Sol Ring and (Dwarven), 9,000 Non-foil Sol Ring (Human). These cards are exclusive to the Collector Booster as seen below via a chart provided by Wizards of the Coast.
Excitement is building and we cannot wait. Be sure to grab your packs and happy hunting for The One Ring. I’m sure it will be very precious.
